Property tax · FY 2022-23 rates
Mello-Roos in Encinitas: what it costs
Written by Sofia Azizi, CA DRE# 02108624 · Updated 2026-09-09
Encinitas has one Mello-Roos district, the city’s CFD No. 1 for Encinitas Ranch, and the last rate worksheet the city posted, FY 2022-23, levied 35.91 percent of the maximum: $844.12 a year for a detached home under 1,250 sq ft up to $2,638.56 above 4,500 sq ft, and $541.22 to $605.78 for attached homes. The bonds mature September 1, 2030. Leucadia, Old Encinitas, Cardiff and Olivenhain carry none.
How much is Mello-Roos in Encinitas?
Encinitas levies one community facilities district, CFD No. 1 for Encinitas Ranch, and its latest posted worksheet, FY 2022-23, charged 35.91 percent of the maximum: $844.12 a year for a detached home under 1,250 sq ft rising to $2,638.56 above 4,500 sq ft, $541.22 to $605.78 for attached homes and $2,770.74 an acre for commercial land, across 848 parcels.
The share of the maximum moves year to year because a credit from the golf course — $901,934 in FY 2022-23 — offsets the requirement: the year before, the levy was 51 percent of the maximum and detached homes paid $1,241.90 to $3,658.12. The county's FY 2025-26 roll shows Encinitas Ranch parcels at $971.34, $1,068.48, $1,877.94, $2,104.58 and $2,816.90, so the current bills sit inside that band. The maximum itself runs $2,350.70 to $7,347.74 for detached homes and rises 2 percent a year, which is the ceiling a buyer is underwriting even though the levy has never reached it. The county’s parcel search returns the exact line for any address.
When does Encinitas Mello-Roos end?
Encinitas Ranch’s CFD No. 1 ends with its bonds: the 2021 Taxable Special Tax Refunding Bonds, $19,105,000 issued on August 4, 2021 and $12,905,000 outstanding on June 30, 2025, mature September 1, 2030, so the last debt-service levy falls in FY 2029-30.
The district financed streets, drainage, water and sewer for the master plan rather than ongoing services, which is why it has an end date at all. A buyer in 2026 is looking at four more annual bills, and the golf-course credit makes each one smaller than the schedule suggests.
Which Encinitas homes pay Mello-Roos?
Encinitas’s CFD No. 1 covers the Encinitas Ranch master plan — the homes east of Interstate 5 around the Encinitas Ranch Golf Course — and the Encinitas Town Center; Leucadia, Old Encinitas, Cardiff-by-the-Sea and Olivenhain carry no community facilities district.
Everywhere else in the city the cost questions are the coastal ones the Encinitas guide covers — bluff setbacks, the Coastal Commission’s role, Olivenhain’s water district and fire zones — not special taxes. A listing outside Encinitas Ranch that warns of Mello-Roos is worth a question; one inside it that omits the line is worth a look at the roll.
The districts and their rates
| District | Annual tax, FY 2022-23 | Range and cap | Ends |
|---|---|---|---|
| City of Encinitas CFD No. 1 (Encinitas Ranch) Fund 6036-42 · facilities | $2,638.56 detached home over 4,500 sq ft, FY 2022-23 worksheet (35.91% of the maximum that year); the smallest class, under 1,250 sq ft, paid $844.12 | $844.12–$2,638.56 detached; $541.22–$605.78 attached; commercial $2,770.74 an acre; FY 2025-26 roll samples $971.34–$2,816.90 maximum $2,350.70–$7,347.74 detached, $1,507.21–$1,686.97 attached (FY 2022-23); +2.00% a year | FY 2029-30 (bonds mature September 1, 2030) |
The County Auditor publishes a parcel lookup, County of San Diego special assessments parcel search, which returns the current levy for a specific address. Use it before an offer; the table above tells you what to expect, the lookup tells you what is true for that parcel.
A Mello-Roos amount is specific to the parcel, not the neighborhood: it varies by district, improvement area and the phase a home was built in. The authoritative figure is the line item on the property tax bill, which names the district and gives a contact number. Figures above are the administrators’ published rates for fiscal year 2022-23, retrieved 2026-09-08; most districts escalate annually, so next year’s bill will be higher by the stated percentage.
Sources
- City of Encinitas, Encinitas Ranch CFD No. 1 page — FY 2022-23 levy worksheet and annual report — City of Encinitas CFD No. 1 (Encinitas Ranch), medium confidence. The city site blocks automated fetches; the worksheet figures come from a research pass that read an archived copy, and the roll samples from the county's own lookup.
Which districts are named for Encinitas in the County Auditor’s list, and the administrator contacts, are on the Encinitas guide; every community we cover is on the Mello-Roos lookup.
Want the number for a specific address?
Send the address and we will pull the district, the current levy and the remaining term together with what comparable homes on that street actually sold for.
Last updated 2026-09-09